I’m working on a book project and I’ll include a list of must-hear harmonica recordings (individual tunes, not albums or CDs), with key of tune and harmonica, and position.
Each tune should be:
-- representative of the artist's best and most characteristic work
-- potentially inspiring and motivating to a new or potential harmonica player
-- and exemplary of something important about blues harmonica.
---------- VOTE Winslow Yerxa for SPAH president, with L J Atkison for vice president Winslow for SPAH President (Facebook) Winslow4prez (Youtube) Chair, SPAH entertainment committee Chair, SPAH awards committee Member, SPAH convention planning committee Staff, SPAH Convention event operation
Jawbreaker on Deep Down What My Mama Told Me - Gettin' Up Laundromat Blues - Living Chicago Blues
These are three that capture Carey's essence. Its hard to limit it to three.
The following CD captures him in a live setting: The Blues Show, Live at the Pit Inn. Its with Johnny Littlejohn and its completely bad ass. Carey is at the height of his game. The Johnny Littlejohn tracks are nothing short of phenomenal. Its a hard to find CD and its expensive, but its worth it.
Carey was amazing! He had a huge influence on me and motivated me to play. In my opinion, he was one of the best ever.
Delta Time from Tough Luck cd. billy branch does a low end harp part while Carey does the lead/melody.
there is a sort of love- no better way to define it- that comes through in Carey's playing. when i heard him doing stuff on a chromatic it told me i could work some things out the same way. not the same parts or the way he did but that i could do this my own way and be ok with it. weird but true. ---------- http://www.reverbnation.com/jawboneandjolene
i first saw carey bell with willie dixon allstars and he was fantastic a very flutie ,floating and snakey style. and him trading off leads with buster benton it was a night of chicago blues you don`t forget...buster benton had the best blues voice i ever heard too...
I like "Ball Buster" and "Big Walter Strut." I love Carey and saw him a handful of times live, starting in 1985, but always in NYC, never in Chicago--his home turf. I'm glad to know that others share my sense that there's something unique about his contribution to the instrument and idiom. There was something.....crazy about his playing. He was the court jester, always clowning, always tossing a glissando at you in unexpected ways. More than almost any other player, he seemed to play from a state of mind that didn't worry about scale degrees, didn't worry about the changes, but just intuitively KNEW where the music was buried. His stuff always sounded right, but it never sounded over-thought. He also had a light attack. He could get a kind of whispery sound--he does this on "Big Walter Strut"--that nobody else got. A guy like Big Rockin' Charles, by contrast, seemed loud, raucous, but without the same kind of subtlety. To be crazy and subtle at the same time isn't easy. Carey Bell knew where the wild notes were buried. A very vocalized sound.
Carey Bell is my biggest harmonica influence, as far as recorded music is concerned, because I only have records and videos to go by. With the exception of Billy Branch (with who you can hear Carey's influence in a major way), Carey Bell's tone, phrasing and attack resonates with me like no other player. And when it comes time to learn chromatic, I know where I will be starting.
Buster Benton was a fabulous singer and guitarist. He just oozed the blues. He has an awesome CD out with Carey Bell on harp. He has another one where he is backed by Billiy Branch and the Sons Of Blues.
Back to Carey...
I saw him once at a Hummel blowout with Red Archibald, Gary Smith and Hummel. Carey was the last guy up. The first three guys were great, but when Carey came up, he grabbed the mic on a simple box shuffle and said more in the first twelve bars than the other guys did in three tunes. His tone was unequalled. It was awesome. The way he formed his notes was really unique. He had some unique and inventive runs that most people don't (or can't) play that can make a very impactful statement. He was a master at building tension and release. He took the audience on a ride. Sometimes it was like a roller coaster, other times it was slow, colorful and scenic. What he had was very unique.
Check out his version of Easy on Deep Down. Bell Hop is a fabulous take on the Honeydripper.
Speaking of Good Rockin Charles, it's worth getting his Mr Blues album, if you can find it. It's perfect. Pure emotion.
Carey's tone on the Harpslinger album is one of my most favourite amped harp tones ever. I don't know what rig he was using, but it sounds simply superb to me.
